距地球90光年處，發(fā)現(xiàn)了一顆巨大的系外行星

距地球90光年處，發(fā)現(xiàn)了一顆巨大的系外行星

The presence of an enormous, Neptune-size exoplanet 90 light-years from Earth has been confirmed after it was first spotted in 2019.

距離地球90光年的一顆巨大的——海王星大小的——系外行星在2019年首次被發(fā)現(xiàn)后，近期得到了證實。

The study, published in The Astronomical Journal, confirms the existence of G 9–40b. The researchers used the Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF) in Texas to confirm the planet’s presence, which was first spotted in 2019 by the Kepler spacecraft.

這項發(fā)表在《天文學(xué)雜志》上的研究證實了G 9-40b的存在。研究人員使用了德克薩斯州的適居帶行星探測器(HPF)來確認(rèn)這顆行星的存在，開普勒太空船于2019年首次發(fā)現(xiàn)了這顆行星。

“G 9–40b is amongst the top twenty closest transiting planets known, which makes this discovery really exciting. Further, due to its large transit depth, G 9–40b is an excellent candidate exoplanet to study its atmospheric composition with future space telescopes,” said the study’s lead author, Guðmundur Stefánsson, in a statement.

“G 9-40b是已知最接近的20顆行星之一，這使得這一發(fā)現(xiàn)非常令人興奮。此外，由于其過境深度大，G9-40b是未來空間望遠(yuǎn)鏡研究其大氣成分的最佳候選系外行星，”這項研究的第一作者,Guðmundur Stefansson,在一份聲明中說。

It’s believed that G 9–40b is “about twice the size of the Earth, but likely closer in size to Neptune.” It also orbits its star, G 9-40, once every 5 days and 17 hours.

科學(xué)家認(rèn)為G 9-40b“大約是地球的兩倍大，但可能更接近海王星”。“它還圍繞它的恒星G 9-40運行，每5天17小時運行一次。”

The closest confirmed exoplanet to Earth is Proxima Centauri b, which is 4.2 light-years from Earth. In January, researchers discovered the presence of a possible second exoplanet, a “Super-Earth,” also orbiting Proxima Centauri.

離地球最近的系外行星是比鄰星b，距地球4.2光年。今年1月，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了可能存在的第二顆系外行星——“超級地球”，它也圍繞著比鄰星運行。

G 9-40 is an M dwarf star and is approximately 100 light-years from Earth. It has a surface temperature of approximately 5,600 degrees Fahrenheit, according to The Next Web. For comparison purposes, the sun has a surface temperature of 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

g9 -40是一顆M矮星，距地球約100光年。它的表面溫度大約是5600華氏度。比較一下，太陽的表面溫度是10000華氏度。

More than 4,000 exoplanets have been discovered by NASA in total, approximately 50 of which were believed potentially habitable as of September 2018. They have the right size and the right orbit of their star to support surface water and, at least theoretically, to support life.

截至2018年9月，NASA總共發(fā)現(xiàn)了4000多顆系外行星，其中大約50顆被認(rèn)為可能適合居住。它們的大小和軌道與它們的恒星相同，可以支撐地表水，至少在理論上可以支撐生命。